Qualifying thanks to an Irish grandfather, Tommy McNamara may be dreaming of pulling on the green jersey at some stage in his career, but hasn't yet had the chance.
While Martin O'Neill has yet to give him the call, he is a firm favourite of manager Patrick Vieira at New York City FC, who starts him alongside Andrea Pirlo in midfield for the Major League Soccer side.
Vieira himself will be feeling under pressure as his side once again slumped to a heavy defeat in a New York derby, losing 4-1 to the Red Bulls. However, that was a slight improvement on the 7-0 hammering they were given by their rivals back in May, so it's a step in the right direction at least.
It will come as some little comfort after the defeat for both player and manager, but the goal of the game was scored by McNamara.
Clearly frustrated that his side was already three goals down, he decided to smash an effort from distance at goal in the closing stages of the first half. The result was a screamer that got the fans on their feet.
The stunning goal didn't quite inspire his team to make a comeback, but it did get people on social media pretty excited, which is all that matter these days.
All he does is take longshots or hit the finesse cheese.
I love this guy! @Tommy_Mc15 (via @totalmls) pic.twitter.com/Q9dKUiuYmD
— Chu (@ChuBoi) 24 July 2016
Think of how good Tommy McNamara would be if he hadn't wasted all those years at college getting an education. #NYvNYC
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) 24 July 2016
Who'd have thought feeder clubs like Chelsea, Juventus & Barcelona could produce guys good enough to share the field with Tommy McNamara?
— Matthew Doyle (@MLSAnalyst) 24 July 2016
Word @Tommy_Mc15 #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/yLV77SJ8Fw
— Freddy C (@bronx81mb) 25 July 2016
Hopefully Martin O'Neill was on Twitter last night anyway...
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